Plane Stopped in Midair

bOn Thu, 11 Nov 2004 09:10:35 -0700, DM
wrote:

Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

It is indeed possible for an airplane to hover. I saw a Feiseler
Storch (German liaison aircraft of WWII) sit over a runway without
forward motion. Its stall speed of say 30 mph was the same as the wind
speed.

But what you saw was more likely an optical illlusion. The bigger the
aircraft, the slow it seems to move because it is farther from you,
and it is *very* difficult to know how far an airplane is away from
you. I once watched a slow-moving USAF cargo plane searching for
bodies in the water over an inland bay. It appeared to be motionless
because it was twice as large as the planes I usually see land at this
airport.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

DM wrote in message ...
Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash. There's been nothing
about it in the local news but I've still been very concerned. Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

If the plane did get too slow ( a very unlikely possibility) the nose
would drop and the plane would accelerate again. That would assume the
pilots ignored the clax horn, the shaking controls and the indicator
on the airspeed.
I grew up in a military environment and often saw very large planes
(like giant C-5 cargo planes) coming and going. They always looked
like they were stopped in midair. The huge size makes your brain think
they can't be that big and therefor must be closer, smaller, and
moving slower than they really are.

-Roebrt

DM wrote:
*Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to
what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash. There's been
nothing
about it in the local news but I've still been very concerned. Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

As a daily traveler
near a major metro airport, I'd really like to be reassured that this
is not a common occurrence.

Debbie *

Hi Debbie

The human mind is a funny thing. It sometimes sees what it wants to
see. Your first thought of "Gee, that aircraft is not moving"
compounded by all the other reasons given on other postings is why you
perceived something that was not happening.

I can remember a time when I crewed on a yacht on an ocean race up the
coast of Western Australia. Prior to the start we were advised of the
hazard of a number of naval vessels engaged in exercises in the general
vicinity of the course we were to track.

About 24 hours into the race the crew on watch reported a ship ahead.
(It was broad daylight and excellent visibility) Not long after one of
the crew stated that it was coming toward us. Ten minutes later another
one of the crew claimed "Yes, it looks like a war ship." Ten minutes
later yet another crew member said it was an aircraft carrier. A
further ten minutes and all on board had confirmed it was an aircraft
carrier and in fact we could clearly see the aircraft parked on the
deck.

When a rusting old oil tanker passed about 2 miles abeam we were all
quite shocked at the illusion our own minds had created.

The lesson I learnt from this:
Trust logic - not what you think you see.
Trust your instruments - not what you feel is right
Seeing is NOT believing.

Phil


--
mhquay
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